Cadmium and Cerise
by Rainstorm55
Summary: Todd and Marty have an unexpected encounter on the night of the '09 "Go Red" Ball. Will he be able to win back her trust?
1. Chapter 1

Cadmium and Cerise

Disclaimer: This story takes place the night of the "Go Red" Ball on Valentine's Day 2009. Tea is just Todd's lawyer and friend. Todd has no twin and was recently acquitted of conspiracy to kidnap Hope. Marty does not have her memory back yet. This is a non-profit "One Life to Live" fan fiction – no copyright infringement intended.

February 14th, 2009

9:48 p.m.

Todd Manning was seeing red. Literally.

As he stumbled down the corridor of the bustling Palace Hotel, streamers, balloons and sundry decorations in cerise, cadmium and every other hue of red were everywhere.

The hoi polloi of Llanview were also bursting in shades of scarlet. Most of the men were in black like him, but the women were dressed to the elevens in long flowing evening gowns, expensive jewels and lethally chic hairdos.

Leave it to his baby girl to crash the party in her amazing natural honey curls and a cherry-red leather jacket. She knocked all the other coiffed women here into a cocked hat with just a little cat smirk on her full, lush lips.

Todd could have laughed in pride and delight at her devil-may-care finesse and effortless chutzpah if he hadn't felt so sick at missing her.

Tonight's Go Red Ball was for a good cause – womens' cardiac health awareness and heart attack prevention.

Not that he cared. Tea had practically had to drag him out of Marty's bed and into his suit to get him here. Since his funds had finally been unfrozen by the courts, he'd had Tea write a check for a huge donation and made sure she got a receipt for his tax deduction.

What a hilarious joke that tonight was all about healthy hearts, when his own heart was shattered by the knowledge that the woman he now knew he'd never stop loving could not bear the sight or touch of him.

Todd barely noticed that he was getting apprehensive, mistrustful looks from all the gaily-dressed partygoers. Hushed whispers about what he'd just done followed him down the hall.

Todd came to a bank of elevators and knew he needed to escape the ball, if only for a while. He pressed the "down" button quickly. When the empty elevator arrived, he stepped inside and let out a deep, ragged sigh as the aluminium doors hissed shut, encasing him in blessed solitude.

He wasn't one to run away, but he hadn't gotten – or stayed - where he was today by pushing his luck, either.

The hotel's ballroom was on the third floor. Toss quickly pressed the button for Level 1 to access the hotel's spacious floor of conference rooms. He knew no one would be down there, and he needed at least a few minutes alone to try and figure out how to stop Marty from leaving with that freaking psychopath.

Rage boiled up again in Todd's gut like a geyser filled with acid as he stepped out of the elevator onto the thankfully quiet first floor of the hotel.

A knife.

That son of a bitch Wes Granger, Marty's new boyfriend, had held a _knife_ to his throat.

As he remembered the incident, the blood pounded dangerously in Todd's carotid artery, near where the ape had nearly sliced him. He could still feel the freezing, shiny metal of the utility blade pressed against his flesh.

Todd closed his eyes. He dug his nails dug into his palms as he struggled against waves of humiliation and a desire to kill that biker scum so palpable he could taste it, rich and warm, like Scotch roaring a trail down his throat into his guts.

Oh, he could have taken Granger down, and done it with ease, style and pleasure.

But Antonio Vega, McBain and his flunky Talia Sahid were there, and none of them would scruple to arrest him if he put a foot out of line.

Blair was there too, watching every move he made with narrowed, heavily made-up eyes. She never hesitated to remind him that the restraining order against him was still in effect. And if he EVER wanted anything to do with his kids again, she gloated, he better "straighten up and fly right", to coin one of her favorite phrases.

Everyone he said he had a rotten temper. They were right. They said it would be the death of him some day. Probably.

But Todd honestly didn't think anyone knew how much he loved and needed his children - not even his kids themselves. Starr may have perjured herself to save him from jail for attempted kidnapping, but Todd couldn't kid himself that didn't hate him.

Didn't matter. She, Marty, Jack and Sam were still his life, and always would be.

What were the kids at school saying to Jack about his dad's latest sojourn in Statesville Prison? How long before Sam started to fear and shrink from him, just like Jack had after Todd almost died after being framed for Margaret's murder?

He didn't want to think about it. He couldn't stop thinking about it.

If anyone had asked Todd why he was pacing madly up and down the hotel's thick carpeted floors, he would have told them they were insane, and that he was standing perfectly still.

Todd didn't realise he was moving until he slowed down and noticed a sign outside one of the hotel's several huge abandoned meeting rooms.

As he neared the set of mahogany double doors, which were barely ajar, he noticed that the small bronze plaque read "Madison Conference Room".

Another cosmic joke. Madison had been one of the girl's names he'd picked out for Hope when he'd thought he'd have to take the baby away to keep her from that twisted sister Marcie McBain.

Why didn't Starr realise what he'd been trying to do? She was his heart, his best part, his only little daughter. Why couldn't she understand that he'd been trying to protect her from the deep, slicing pains he dealt with every hour of his life - remorse and its sister in crime, regret?

Todd growled low in helpless frustration as his thoughts whirled around how to make the only two women in the world he loved, except Viki and Jessica, see the light, and the truth about him.

Suddenly, a hand reached out of the conference salon door, grabbed him by the wrist and yanked him inside.


	2. Chapter 2

"What the -"

The sound of the door slamming shut cut short Todd's expletive.

Before he could say anything more, he was shoved up against the nearest wall and held there by the shoulders.

Todd's body tensed in a natural fight-or-flight reaction. Was it McBain? Had Granger followed him here? All of his senses slammed into overdrive as he tried to figure what the hell was happening. His body was processing the situation much more quickly than his brain.

The room was black, and the tiny slits of bright city lights sneaking through the closed blinds were useless to tell him what was going on.

As Todd automatically put up his hands in a defensive stance and drew in a sharp breath, his deep inhalation rewarded him with a blast of sultry perfume he'd know anywhere. Amarige.

He'd bought it for her, and wasn't ashamed to admit that he still sprayed it on the pillow each night before he curled up in her bed, aching for the release and dreams of her that sleep only rarely brought.

She hadn't taken it with her when she left, of course - she must have gone out and bought a bottle of it for herself.

The knowledge filled him with awed wonder as her delicious scent of jasmine and orange blossom surrounded him. Did the fragrance make her think of him; dream of him? Todd wondered as they both stood there, their labored breath ringing into the hush of the huge empty room.

His hands reached out into the utter darkness. The first thing they found was the shoulders of the person who'd thrown him up against the wall, covered in butter-soft leather.

He opened his mouth and drew in another shaky breath. "I'm -"

But she was having none of it.

And before he could even say her name, her velvet lips crashed down on his.

Shock ran through Todd's entire body, from his scalp to his shoes. He moaned as her luscious mouth, made even more succulent with soft lipstick, slid sensuously over his, claiming him. He took the risk to kiss her gently back. Victorious joy roared through him like a tidal wave when she didn't pull away.

Her mouth opened slightly as it travelled slowly, deeply against his lips. Todd could taste red wine on her lips. He hoped she wouldn't drink any more tonight. He wanted her lucid when he talked to her - if she let him get a word in. And he didn't want her at risk for a flare-up. He knew that alcohol added to the stress she was already under could bring her lupus back. Her strong body had taken enough abuse in the last year from the explosion.

As if she'd read his thought about her strength, Marty pressed herself much closer to him.

Todd went weak at the knees. So much the better. When his back slid down the wall slightly, their six-inch height difference disappeared, letting their mouths meld closer.

He arched his shoulders back against the wall. The motion pushed him forward and pressed him even harder to Marty's lips. His heart raced faster when she moaned against his mouth.

Todd groaned loudly in disbelief at her response to his touch. He struggled against the painful urge to throw his arms around Marty, crush her to him, carry her out of the hotel past all its hundreds of shocked patrons, home, up the stairs and into his bed. Her bed. _Their_ bed.

But the same instinct that had gotten out of many a scrape told him he mustn't push her, scare her, crush her. If he made one wrong move, she'd stop kissing him; touching him. He couldn't bear that.

Especially not with her arms winding up around his neck to embrace him tightly. Especially not with her long, cool fingers stroking his hair and cheek so softly, more gently than anyone ever had in his life.

"I _hate _you," she whispered hotly in his ear, speaking to him for the first time since New Year's Eve, when he'd gladly taken a header off of this hotel's roof for her. "Do you understand how much I hate you?"

"Yes," Todd breathed, his voice husky with need. "Yessss….ahhh, God…"

Urged on by his helpless sigh, Marty kissed fervently along his jawline, her lips making soft whispering sounds and leaving a scarlet trail on his skin that neither of them could see.

"Ohhh…" Todd leaned his head back as her kiss travelled downwards. Delicious shockwaves of icy heat ran down his spine as she marked his Adam's apple and every inch of his throat with her lips.

How did she know how much he adored – and got off on – having his neck kissed?

He was being stupid, he realised as he ran his hands through her long, thick, wild curls. He'd told her himself. As they made love, Marty had eagerly kissed, gently bitten and lovingly sucked on his neck as she embraced him tightly. And he'd whispered over and over again how much he loved it, how much he needed her, that he didn't know what he'd do if he ever lost her.

She pressed a last eager kiss to the side of his neck and then asked a question that surprised him more than any of her actions tonight had.

"Are you all right? Did Wes cut you?"

Todd threw his arms around her and hugged her tightly, shocked and grateful at her concern. Surprised chills raced up his arms and legs as she slid her arms around his waist and hugged him back. He stroked her hair and murmured, "Not even a scratch."

He drew back to see her, and was pleasantly surprised again to realise that he _could_ see her. His eyes had adjusted enough so that the glaring glow from the city buildings outside showed him the lingering fury and honest worry in her incandescent blue eyes.

The question she'd asked gave Todd the courage to quickly lift her up by the hips. Marty gasped loudly as Todd effortlessly carried her over to a gleaming oak conference table nearby.

As she watched him with huge eyes, he gently set her down on top of it and then knelt down on the floor in front of her, bringing them eye to eye – physically, at least.

"Are you okay?" he returned her question. "Tea shouldn't have hit you."

He pressed his lips to her injured cheek, trying to make his touch as soft as her beautiful skin was.

Fat chance.

Sure enough, her face was blazing, and not just from the emotion he hoped she felt from kissing him. When Todd quickly kissed her right cheekbone, he realised her left bruised cheek was flaring much hotter than the other one. Tea had gotten Marty a good blow - she might even have a black eye tomorrow.

He'd seen Tea deck Marty while he wrestled Granger to the floor. Only his crashing, ignominious struggle with the idiot had prevented him from running over and carrying Marty in his arms out of the ballroom, right in front of Blair, John, Tea and God.

Todd made a low, solicitous murmur of concern, exactly as he'd comforted all three of his kids when they skinned their knees as toddlers. He tried to cup her uninjured cheek in his palm and kiss her lips again, but Marty knocked his hand away.

"I've been hit before," she scoffed.

Rage clenched at Todd's stomach and roared up into his throat, constricting his breathing in a far less pleasant way than Marty's kiss had. This was news to him – unpleasant news. Who would have dared to hit her? Patrick, Dylan and Suede had adored her, as had her parents. He was sure David and Samantha Saybrooke had never so much as love-tapped their little girl.

Neither Powell nor Zack had smacked Marty. He knew that thanks to the ringleader's ringside side seat he'd given himself to her assault. And he'd never hit her either. A pathetic drop of water on the hellish inferno of the rape he'd put her through, but at times it had been all he'd had to hold onto.

If he found out Blair had _ever_ struck her, he'd –

"Hit by whom?"

"Never mind," Marty laughed bitterly.

"By _whom_?" Todd insisted.

She sighed, then laughed mirthlessly again. "By lovely Aunt Kiki. When she had her drink on, she didn't bother to hide how much she hated me."

Todd scoffed. He should have known it was that old sot who'd abused Marty, probably from the very day she'd lost both her parents at seven. He was sorry the old woman had died before he could give her a piece of his mind.

"Forget that hag," he told Marty, and placed his hands on her knees. "We need to talk about you and Granger."

Marty groaned loudly.

"Marty, how can you live with him; be with him? The guy's a lunatic."

"Says the poster boy for sanity," Marty scoffed, but she didn't push him away.

Todd didn't let her defensive sarcasm distract him. "Marty, you can't stay with him anymore. You need to go home to Nora's house, or at least get a room here at the hotel. How long before he pulls his knife on you?"

"Wes is my friend," Marty defended him. "He took me in when I had nowhere else to go. He lets me go my own way, he doesn't push me around and we're always very honest with each other. Not many people can say that."

"Marty, this town is filled with people who love you. You have a home with Nora and Cole," Todd insisted. "I'm sure even Viki would love to have you -"

But he'd made a bad mistake. She stiffened and pushed him away, leaping to her feet as he stumbled back onto his heels and then into a standing position.

"Don't you ever mention my son to me again, you hear me?" she yelled.

"I'm sorry," Todd tried to mollify her as he put out his hands, trying to stay her. He'd rather have her here screaming at him than running out of the room to Granger. "Marty, how can I make you believe that I never meant to hurt you?"

"I'll never believe that," she hissed, but her voice was filling with tears. "Never."

"You could," Todd said softly. "I think you could, if you just give yourself time and remember how much I lov-"

"You never loved me," Marty said bitterly. Bright tears shone in her eyes as she shook her head. "Making me fall in love with you was your ultimate gambit – just revenge."

"That's not true," Todd protested, holding out his hand. He still held it out to her when she made no move to take it. "You don't understand…"

"The only thing I don't understand is how you managed to keep from laughing in my face when you told me all about the rape, except for you leading it," Marty sneered.

But now she was the one who'd gone too far.

"You still think I enjoyed that?" Todd shouted. "That was a nightmare. You could see how much I detested that."

"Poor you. What an ordeal for you," Marty mocked before her face grew serious and furious again. "My God, Todd, you got away with everything you did to me, and to Starr! What more do you want?"

Facing her in the dim pinpoints of light shining into the room, Todd gave the only answer he could.

"I want you."


	3. Chapter 3

Marty shook her head slowly back and forth, looking for any sign that Todd was kidding. None came.

"And people say I'm crazy," she said softly to herself.

"Why did you yank me in here, Marty? Why'd you kiss me?" Todd challenged her.

She sighed slightly, but stood her ground. When it became clear to her that he wouldn't leave without an answer, she said, "I came here for some peace and quiet, same as you probably did. I was trying to relax, but you showed up before I could calm down. I saw you through the crack in the door, and then I…I had to prove to myself that I wasn't afraid of you anymore."

"And are you?" Todd asked.

After an endless moment, she shook her head. Todd felt his hands loosen; he wasn't even been aware he'd been clenching his fingers tightly.

"No, Todd, I'm not afraid of you, because there's nothing else you can do to me now."

"Except love you, and I do," Todd told her softly.

"How can I believe that?" Marty yelled, tears finally slipping from her wide eyes and down her flushed cheeks.

"How can you not? Todd challenged. "You tried to make me off myself, remember? I almost died, and it wasn't for lack of trying."

Marty looked away from him for the first time that evening, and Todd was shocked to see what looked like regret cross her face.

"And now you want to get me back for that?" she asked quietly.

"No, I don't blame you. I deserved worse," Todd told her. "My choices are mine, Marty – just like you are."

She gasped. "I'm not,'" she told him, shocked at his words.

"You are."

"I can't be!"

"I'm still here, Marty," he said, daring to take a step closer to her, "After everything that's happened, everything I did," he said, his hushed voice barely a murmur, "I'm still…here. Doesn't that tell you anything? I need you, Marty…"

"No, you don't mean that," she shook her head.

"You know I do," Todd whispered, holding her with his dark blue eyes. "You're too smart, and you know me too well to believe I don't still love you, because I do."

"You don't," she still insisted.

"I could have left Llanview the day after the trial ended, Marty," Todd reminded her. "The restraining order is still in effect. Blair's going to need time to cool off before she lets me see Jack or Sam. Knowing her, I'm not going to hold my breath. Starr's in mourning, and that's my fault too. I'm sure she'll need months before she'll even talk to me on the phone. I could have taken the jet to our house in New Mexico…"

"Then why don't you?" she challenged him.

"I will…" Todd took another step towards her. "If you come with me."

Marty gulped, and for a second Todd dared to think he saw a struggle taking place behind those expressive eyes of hers. But then, of course, she shook her head again.

"No, how can I?" she whispered.

How could he resist such a question?

"Let me tell you," Todd said quietly, firmly.

A last step brought Todd right next to her, where he could smell her tempting scent again. He reached out, put his arms around Marty's waist and drew her to him in a tight, warm embrace. He started to rock her gently as he answered her question.

"First we're going to go upstairs. I'm going to stand by you while you tell Granger that you never want to see him again. Or Talia Sahid or Antonio Vega can be with you while you do that, if you insist. I don't want you talking to Granger alone. Next I'm going to tell Blair that Tea will be filing papers this week on my behalf to have the restraining order lifted so I can at least call and talk to the kids. Then I'm going to find John and tell him to leave us alone unless he wants one to deal with one bitch of a harassment suit. You won't have to say a word to him."

Todd brought Marty's hand to his lips, closed his eyes and fervently kissed her fingers as the hopeful scene played out in his mind. Fresh tears fell freely down Marty's cheeks as she heard the undeniable conviction and warmth in his voice.

"Then we're going to take my limo to the airport. I'll call and have them start up the jet on the way," Todd said. "We don't even need to go to our house here in Llanview – the keys to our place in Taos are right here." Marty couldn't suppress a gasp as he drew a shining set of keys from his suit jacket pocket.

"You can rest on the plane while I call ahead and order some groceries to be delivered to the house, or we can talk," Todd told her, and stroked her silky hair.

"I've bought you a Lexus I hope you'll like. It's been waiting at Taos airport since October, waiting for you to pick it up. I've programmed the address of the house into the GPS. You can drive, or I will if you're tired. The house is about an hour from Taos airport – we can go straight there, or do some shopping if you like, but your things are already at the house."

"My things?" Marty asked. She took a step back, but didn't pull out of his arms. Her eyes were brighter than ever. Whether or not she admitted it to him, or to herself, Todd's hopeful words had had a deep effect on her. Her cheeks were flushed, her gaze shining and her breath slow and deep.

"I had the wardrobe I got you from Logan's sent on," Todd said. "You only really unpacked your blue sweater and the black dress you wore when we – when you told me you loved me. Most of the clothes are still in the bags – you didn't unpack them, and I couldn't bring myself to."

"Todd…" Marty started to shake her head, but he wasn't finished.

"We'll have a shower and change clothes, and then…the day is yours, just like I am," Todd said plainly. "We can drive into Santa Fe, we can get to know the house, or we can spend the day by the pool. I check the Taos weather report every day, Marty – today was 84 degrees and sunny. In the middle of February."

"Todd, I can't," she told him.

He pulled her back into his arms. She leaned her head into his shoulder, but her voice was bereft as she said, "Please go, Todd, just go, and forget about us, okay?"

"Not without you, and no, I won't," Todd said, his eyes closed as he savoured the feel of her warm, lithe form in his embrace again. Even earlier, when she'd been furious with him, her lips and arms had been a balm, soothing the aching loneliness he felt without her.

"What I told you on New Year's is true, Marty – I can't live without you," he told her, hugging her tighter. "Tell me you need me too."

"Todd-"

"Come home with me, sweetheart," he whispered desperately as he ran his hands up and down the satin-smooth flesh of her back under her snug red top.

"I can't."

"Marty, tell me you love me," he murmured low, desperate to find the magic words to make her trust him, believe him, stay with him.

"I won't!" she hissed.

"Yes, please? Come home with me. Come home come home come home…" he said these words against her lips as he leaned gently in for another kiss.

"Mmm-no!" She broke free of him, an easy task since Todd didn't hold her against him, though it cut like a dagger wound to let her go.

"We're not over, Marty," he told her, but she was already at the door.

She turned back, clutching the doorknob. "I shouldn't have done this tonight. Just forget it, Todd, okay?"

Forget what? The way she'd hugged him tightly against her smooth body? The way she'd moaned when she kissed him? Forget the dream of being with her? It didn't matter exactly what she was referring to, because the answer to all those heinous impossibilities was -

"No. No, I won't forget it, Marty. We belong to each other, and we belong together."

She turned and left. But Todd saw the way her face crumpled and her shoulders fell as she walked away from him.


	4. Chapter 4

Todd knew better then to go after her. If anyone saw them together the way they had been here, he might get arrested, and then he'd have less chance of seeing her than he did now.

Todd sighed and buried his face in his hands, hoping that a trace of her perfume or shampoo lingered on his palms. To his relief, it did. He breathed in her warm scent deeply, and it gave him a modicum of comfort from the sting of her walking away from him again.

Todd slowly exited the vast conference room where they'd had their chance encounter. To his relief, there was a side exit on this abandoned hotel floor accessing the street that he hadn't noticed before. He was thankful he wouldn't have to lay eyes on anybody else while he exited the building.

He stepped out of the hotel into the freezing February night. He sighed a visible breath into the frigid air and then inhaled, closing his eyes in relief as the fresh, icy air filled his lungs.

His limo was on a deserted street right around the corner. The headlights and engine came on at the same time as William, his driver, saw him coming. Todd was glad Tea had insisted on taking the limo to the ball tonight. This way he could just focus on Marty on the way home and not have to worry about driving through party traffic.

Todd quickly stepped into the back of his spacious limo and shut the door. He tapped briskly on the panel separating the driver and passenger sections. "William, let's go straight home, please," he called.

"Sure thing, Mr. Manning," his chauffer answered affably.

As William promptly pulled the limo out onto the busy city street, Todd pulled out his PDA and composed a text message to Tea. Luckily, she was staying right here at the hotel, so he didn't have to worry that he was leaving her stranded anywhere.

New Message to: Tea

11:02 P.M.

**_Not feeling well and it's getting late – had to leave. Have a bellboy walk you upstairs to your suite. _**

Todd waited a minute and then signed off with,

**_Thanks for getting me out of the house. _**

He pressed "Send". Not two minutes later, his phone buzzed loudly.

New Message from: Tea

**_Typical! Goodnight, Todd. We WILL talk soon. _**

Todd snorted in appreciation. Leave it to Tea to make a future intended conversation sound like a threat. He was glad she didn't hate him. If he ever wanted to have visitation with the kids, he needed her on his side.

Todd leaned back against his limo's black leather seat. As the minutes passed, the bright lights of Llanview's business district faded and the car started to drive through quiet streets lined with birch trees and polite family homes.

It would be at least fifteen minutes before they reached his and Marty's house. Jackson Hill Road was right on the edge of Llanview, and its quiet privacy was the reason Todd had chosen the place to begin with.

Fifteen more minutes to sit and dream of what Marty had said, and the way she'd said it.

Maybe Todd was delusional. Marty would almost certainly say he was, and she didn't even remember all of her psychiatric training yet.

But if almost dying for her had only made him love her more, what was he supposed to think after she'd grabbed him, hugged him and kissed the breath from his body?

She'd told him it was just bravado that made her kiss him, and that she'd only been trying to prove she wasn't afraid of him. Maybe she even believed that.

But it wasn't the whole story. Not by a long shot.

If she'd only been trying to show him she didn't care about him; that he didn't scare her, she would have pushed him away when he'd kissed her back. She'd had plenty of opportunity.

And when he'd begged her to tell him she loved him, she'd said, "I _won't_," not "I _don't_".

He had to hold onto that. If he didn't – if he gave up hope – Todd knew that would really be the end for him.

Hell of a Valentine's Day this had been. Almost as eventful as New Year's Eve was – only better, because Marty had claimed him as her own with her lips, even if she didn't acknowledge that yet.

She would.

Todd didn't care if it took six weeks, six months, a year - and it didn't matter.

Because he knew now he'd never, ever be able to let her go.

_"_Hope is a good thing_, _maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies." – Shawshank Redemption

THE END


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